Sharks & Shocks
by Tor Raptor
Summary: A normal day at the beach turns into tragedy when Austin is viciously attacked by a shark. Later on, he struggles to regain physical ability and worries that his career may be ruined forever. (I really suck at summaries, not as cheesy as it may seem)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin & Ally**

Chapter 1:

"Is everything set up and prepared for our trip to the beach tomorrow?" Ally asked as the group walked down the stairs into Sonic Boom

"Ally, you don't need to prepare for an afternoon at the beach when you live five minutes from the coast," Trish replied.

"Yeah," Austin cut in, "you just grab stuff and go. If you forget something, you go back and grab it."

"Wouldn't it be nicer to plan ahead and have everything you need than to just go and forget a bunch of stuff? Besides, we would need to bring stuff for every possible situation that could occur," Ally explained with her usual worry. She walked over the counter and pulled out a large backpack.

"Why on Earth would you need a bag that big? Are you spending an afternoon at the beach or a week in the desert?" Austin asked sarcastically.

"These are all necessities for the beach," Ally insisted. Austin walked over to the bag and yanked out a gallon jug of vinegar.

"Are you going to make salad dressing for two hundred people at the beach?"

"No, that's in case someone gets stung by a jellyfish."

"Okay, well what about this?" Austin asked, removing an inflatable raft from the backpack, "Is this really necessary?"

"What if there's a tsunami and the whole city is flooded? Or there's a dangerous gang of criminals inland and we need to flee into the ocean?"

"How many tsunamis are there in Miami?" Trish questioned.

"Probably more than there are dangerous gangs of criminals," Austin joked, continuing to look through the contents of the backpack with an amused grin on his face.

"You never know, I've heard that lots of criminals migrate south for the winter," Des said while helping Austin sort through the backpack. Austin glanced up from the pack and gave Dez a confused look.

"I'm pretty sure you mean birds flying south for the winter. And it's not even winter, It's summertime," Austin told Dez.

"Oh, that's right. I get birds and criminals mixed up all the time," Dez said, shrugging and returning to the contents of the pack.

"Ally, why would you need a mile of gauze and ten pairs of rubber gloves?" Austin asked, removing those items from the backpack.

"First of all, it's only half a mile. Second of all, it's in case somebody gets snagged by a fish hook or attacked by a shark," Ally explained.

"Ally, no one is going to get attacked by a shark, or snagged by any fish hook," Trish assured.

"Miami is sometimes called the shark bite capital of the world, you never know who they'll bite next," Ally said as she grabbed the gauze and gloves from Austin and returned them to the backpack. She then zipped up the pack and replaced it inside the counter.

"Now, where are your supplies?"

"What supplies?" the other three replied in perfect unison.

"Your precautions for the variety of scenarios that could arise during a trip to the beach."

"Ally," Dez sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder, "the rest of us are normal humans and we don't feel the need to prepare for things that would never happen."

"I prefer to be safe rather than sorry. When you guys need supplies that you don't have, don't some crying to me."

**Author's Note:**

**I hope you liked this chapter. I know it's a little boring, but there is much action and drama to come! As a person brand new to FanFiction, I need a little time to figure out how all of this stuff works, and sort out the chapter length thing. I apologize if my chapters are too long or too short, but please bear with me. I have pre-written every single chapter of every single story you will see from me, so writer's block will be a rare occurrence (it also means that I know for sure that there will be 3+ sequels to this, not necessarily directly related to this plot) I apologize for this lengthy note, I just want to get formalities over with. **

**In the meantime, please review this story, I'll greatly appreciate it! There is plenty more where this came from!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin & Ally**

Chapter 2:

The four were on the beach, setting up an umbrella and laying down beach towels to sit on. Two surfboards rested by a folded beach chair.

"I can't believe I didn't think to bring a portable fan, it feels like a hundred degrees out here," Ally complained.

"It'll be cooler if you get in the water," Austin said as he picked up one of the surfboards and headed toward the surf.

"I'm not very comfortable with the ocean. Miami is sometimes called the shark bite capital of the world, and it's currently between four o'clock and five o'clock, which is a common time for shark attacks."

"You're overreacting, the only reason Miami is the shark bite capital of the world is because of blacktip and spinner sharks. They aren't very big and no one has ever died from an attack. Shark attacks are rare in the first place, you have nothing to worry about," Austin assured her.

"Where did you learn so much about sharks?" Ally asked suspiciously.

"Long story short, it was a school project in fourth grade. Dez, are you coming?" Austin asked the redhead, who was slathering sunscreen on his arms.

"Yeah, I just have to sunscreen first, then find my hermit crab," he replied.

"Okay, see you in a bit," Austin replied, laughing.

He walked down to the water, surfboard in hand, and began paddling out to where the waves were breaking.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Ally said as she sat down on the beach towel nest to Trish's chair, which she had set up during the shark bite capital of the world discussion.

"A bad feeling about what?" Trish asked.

"Just in general. It's as if there's this voice in my head telling me to stay out of the water."

"You're just being paranoid. Austin's been surfing for years, if he says that it's fine, then it's probably fine."

"I just have this gut feeling that something will go wrong."

Ally looked out to sea, where Austin was sitting on his board, left leg dangling in the water.

"Hey Trish, do you see that fin?"

"It's probably just a dolphin."

"But dolphins are social. If it were a dolphin, there would be more than one – Austin, it's headed right for you!"

Austin turned around, just as the black fin reached him. He was yanked off the board by his leg, the water around him quickly turning red.

"No!" Ally screamed at the top of her lungs. She ran toward the water and rapidly waded in. Austin was scrabbling to get back on the board, the water continuing to become redder. Aly swam over to him and grabbed onto the surfboard. She clutched his forearm and yanked him onto the board. Austin's head lolled to the side, and his eyes fluttered shut. Ally grabbed the board with her left hand and swam back to shore. Once in shallow water, she stood and dragged the board onto the sand.

"This is really bad," she thought. His left calf was a bloody mess, strips of shredded skin and muscle hung loosely **(1) **around a gaping bloody hole. She saw a small area of white in the center that she thought was bone, but hoped wasn't.

"Des, go grab the gauze and gloves from my backpack! Trish, call nine-one-one!" Ally commanded. Dez and Trish frantically ran up the beach. Ally knelt down and gingerly took the unconscious Austin's hand.

"Very faint, but there," she thought. Dez hurried back down, gauze and gloves in hand,

"Thanks, now call his parents, they'll want to know what happened."

Dez nodded rapidly, then hurried back toward their set-up.

Ally put on a pair of gloves, then began wrapping his leg in gauze. Trish ran down the beach toward Ally.

"The paramedics are on their way," Trish said, out of breath, "is there anything else I can do?"

"Just listen to him, make sure he keeps breathing," Ally said, wrapping more gauze on the existing, blood-soaked layer. Within about three minutes, sirens blared and an ambulance arrived.

Paramedics swarmed the scene, driving back the crowd of onlookers.

"How long had he been out?" one of the medics asked Ally.

"About four minutes," Ally responded.

"Pulse?"

"Very faint, but there."

"Okay, let me take him."

Ally scooted out of the way and handed the roll of gauze to the paramedic.

"It's a good thing you had this on hand," the medic said, continuing Ally's job of bandaging the wound.

"I'm always prepared for the worst."

"Bring the stretcher!" he yelled at his fellow paramedics.

Two other medics entered with a stretcher, they lifted the surfboard and gently rolled Austin onto the stretcher. One of the grabbed each side, and they hurriedly carried him toward the ambulance. Once there, they placed an oxygen mask on him and closed the doors. The ambulance drove away, sirens blaring, leaving the crowd of people to ponder what had just happened.

Ally knelt next to the bloody surfboard, staring out at the blood-red sea, her eyes watery with unshed tears. Trish walked over and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Ally looked up at her, and a single tear slid down her cheek and dripped onto the ground, joining the pile of blood and seawater.

**Author's Note: **

**If you guys want a great visual image for this gory injury, look up "erich ritter shark" and you'll find it in images. Although, if you're not one to tolerate blood well, I highly discourage this, as it's a very graphic image. It does provide a bearing as to the severity of this whole thing.**

**I hope you enjoyed Chapter 2 of Sharks & Shocks, please leave questions, comments, or complaints in a review, I greatly appreciate anything I can get.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I forgot to tell you my inspiration for this story in Chapter 1, but I'll tell you now. 2013 was the first year that I saw 'Anatomy of Shark Bite' during shark week. It talks about the attack on Erich Ritter, which you can find more info about online. I decided to write a story loosely based on that attack (not the struggles preceding/following it), so it became this.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin & Ally**

Chapter 3:

Ally, Trish, and Dez sat in a hospital waiting room, people milling about around them. Austin's parents entered the room and walked over to the threesome.

"Is everything alright? We came as soon as we could," Mimi said frantically.

"What did Dez tell you?" Ally asked, looking up at Mimi with tear-stained cheeks and watery eyes.

"He said that there was a situation and that we needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible. We shut down the mattress store and drove here as fast as the speed-limit would allow. Is everything okay, where's Austin?"

"I'm afraid we're not okay, Austin was attacked by a shark," Ally said forlornly.

"Oh my poor baby!" Mimi exclaimed, burying her head in Mike's shoulder, "I have to be with him!" She strode off toward a hallway, and a doctor walking in the opposite direction stopped her in her tracks.

"Where do you think you're going?" the doctor asked accusingly.

"I need to see my son, he's been attacked by a shark."

"Is your son Austin Moon?"

"Yes, do you know where he is?"

"I do, he's in the OR. Dr. Jones is attempting to save his leg."

"Take me to him?" Mimi commanded.

"Sorry, the OR is off-limits to visitors. Unless you manage to complete medical school and get a job here in the next few hours, you'll have to wait until Dr. Jones finishes."

"Okay. Wait, who are you?"

"I'm Dr. Brown, head of trauma."

"How much longer until I can see him?"

"This operation will probably last at least several more hours. I suggest you all go home for the night and get some rest."

"Can we stay? I would like to be with him as soon as I possibly can," Mimi said.

"If you insist."

"I'd like to stay too, is that alright Mrs. Moon?" Dez asked.

"That's perfectly fine. Ally, Trish you must go home, I want you to sleep through the night."

"But we want to see him too," Ally complained.

"It would be better for you if you went home and got some rest," Mimi insisted.

"Okay, I am exhausted from this whole thing," Ally agreed.

A doctor walked out of a door marked, OR, wearing scrubs soaked in blood. He walked up to Dr. Brown, whispered in her ear, then handed her a small, white object. He then turned around and walked back into the OR.

"Who was that and, do I dare ask, why was he covered in blood?" Trish questioned.

"That's Dr. Valdez, he's Dr. Jones' assistant.

"Does that mean that it's Austin's?" Ally asked worriedly.

"Unfortunately, yes. Fortunately, they've stopped the bleeding and he's now stable. That gauze that you happened to have on hand might have saved his life," Dr. Brown explained.

"What did he give you?" Ally asked.

"Oh, this?' Dr. Brown said, "This is a tooth they found embedded in his calf. It's in surprisingly good condition."

"May I have it?"

"Sure, it's already been thoroughly sterilized." Dr. Brown handed her the tooth, and she gently took it between thumb and forefinger.

"Now you two should go home and take a break from this."

"Bye Mr. and Mrs. Moon, bye Dez," Ally said, heading toward the waiting room door.

"Bye," Dez, Mike, and Mimi replied.

"Do you need a ride?" Mike asked.

"No, my dad drove us here and he's still waiting outside," Ally said.

"Call us if anything changes," Trish said.

"Okay," Dez responded, "See you guys tomorrow."

Ally and Trish walked out the door, leaving Dez and the Moons alone with Dr. Brown.

"I have to go, you guys hang on," Dr. Brown said, "And don't worry too much."

She turned and walked away down the hallway. Mimi sat in the chair that Trish had vacated, and buried her head in her hands. Mike sat next to her, and pulled her close to him. Muffled sobs could be heard from Mimi's bowed head and tears began to drip down Mike's face as well. Dez leaned back and stared at the ceiling, the top of his head flush with the wall behind him. Tears streamed from his eyes too, and the threesome sat, awaiting the end of the procedure. Awaiting the time when they could finally be with their best friend/son, they were left to sit and think, terrified of the many possibilities that could arise from the dire situation at hand. They could only imagine the stress that the surgeons suffered, with someone's life in their hands. After all, their stress was nearing the brink of unbearable, as they were forced to just sit and wait, pondering that state that he would be in when they finally see him, and for the rest of his life.

**There you have it, chapter three of Sharks & Shocks. I hope everyone enjoyed it to some extent, but I can't make any promises. I know that these chapters are really short, and I promise to fix that in the other three stories that will come later. The chapters in those stories are nearly twice as long as these, and there are more of them. I will give you guys a rundown of the sequels so that you have an idea of what's coming:**

**Sharks & Shocks: 7 chapters total (4 more)**

**Disappearances & Dread: 9 chapters**

**Selachophobia & Swims: 10 chapters**

***title will not be revealed, as would provide major spoilers for previous stories*: 13 chapters**

**The 4****th**** installment (whose title will not be revealed until later) will also have an alternate ending, which is 3 chapters long.**

**Please read and review, I hope to post chapter 4 tomorrow at the latest!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin & Ally**

Chapter 4:

Ally sat on the piano bench, her head in her hands, crying. Trish entered the room and sat on the bench next to her

"What's the matter Ally?" she asked concernedly.

"I'm worried sick about Austin," Ally replied, sniffling.

"We all are, but it'll be okay."

"It's not okay! If something goes wrong, he'll never be like he used to. His career will fall apart!" Ally cried, new tears gushing from her reddened eyes. "And it's all my fault!"

"Ally, how on Earth could this be your fault? The only thing that you're at fault for is saving his life!"

"I didn't stop him from going into the ocean yesterday."

"That does not make it your fault! It's not anybody's fault, it just happened. It was just nature's way."

"Trish, are you saying that he deserved it?!" Ally exclaimed, glaring at Trish with a fiery look in her eyes.

"No, not at all. Of course he didn't deserve it, no one deserves a fate like that. But, if he recovers from it, there will obviously be tons of magazines and other people who will want and exclusive story on it. Can you imagine?" Trish asked, waving her hand in midair as if this were a headline, "Austin Moon survives shark attack. Do you have any idea how much publicity that would earn him?"

"A lot, but not as much as 'Austin Moon dies in shark attack'"

"Ally, don't you dare think like that!" Trish scolded, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

Ally the completely broke down, hugging Trish close to her. Trish held her back, and the two girls sat together, crying their eyes out.

"Trish, I'm scared. Without him, I'll be nothing."

"I know, I'm scared for him too. But look on the bright side, if he makes it through this, he'll receive tons of 'I'm sorry you almost died in a shark attack, you're so brave' fans."

"Are you saying that it was a good thing that he was mauled by some demon fish!?" Ally exclaimed, jerking out of Trish's grasp.

"No, I'm just trying to be optimistic," Trish said in a meager attempt to defend herself from the infuriated Ally.

"This is your version of optimism! Wishing suffering on your friend!"

"No Ally, I wish that this had never happened. But if he's going to suffer, it might as well give him a publicity boost."

"Well, you do have a point. I'm sorry for snapping at you, I'm just really stressed out about this whole thing."

"It's okay, I'm stressed too. This whole ordeal is just not a very good situation."

"It's almost ten o'clock, we should get to the hospital." Ally rose from the piano bench, grabbed a bouquet of flowers from on top of the piano, and walked toward the door. "Trish, are you coming?" she asked.

"Yeah" Trish got up from her seat and joined Ally at the door

"Oh, I almost forgot, hold this," Ally said, thrusting the flowers into Trish's hands before returning to the piano. She picked up a small, golden box from the piano and went back to the door.

"What's in the box?" Trish asked.

"Just a little gift I got for Austin," Ally replied.

"What is it?"

"It's kind of personal, I'd rather you not know what it is until later."

"Okay, I'll just ask Austin about it later, he'll tell me."

"If he even has the ability to speak," Ally murmured under her breath.

"What was that?" Trish asked, "Did you say anything?"

"No," Ally responded hurriedly.

"Well then let's get going," Trish said, opening the door and walking outside.

"Please make it through this," Ally whispered with her eyes shut, hoping her message got to Austin.

"Are you coming or not?" Trish asked from downstairs.

"Yes, I'm coming." Ally followed Trish out the door and down the stairs, bracing herself for the sight that would await her behind that hospital room door.

**There's chapter 4, I actually had time to get it typed up before I had to leave the house, so you guys can have it now! I hope to post chapters 5-7 tomorrow and maybe even start on Disappearances & Dread. If you guys have any questions regarding this story or the sequels, just leave those in a review or PM me, I'll be happy to answer any of them (unless you are asking me to spoil the entire series for you and any other readers).**

**Until next chapter, please read and review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here you guys have it, Chapter 5! Also, to R5-BTR-LilSis14, those stories that I mentioned earlier are sequels to this story that have already been written in my notebook, I just have yet to type them up. This is just a small piece in a four-story series that should hopefully fill you all to the brim with excitement, drama, action, and a bit of that friendship stuff.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin & Ally**

Chapter 5:

Ally and Trish entered the hospital room, Dez asleep in a chair beside the bed.

"Dez!" Trish yelled in an attempt to wake him up. He jerked awake, looked around in confusion, then seemed to realize where he was.

"Dang it, it wasn't a dream," Dez muttered disappointedly.

"Dez, you look awful," Ally said, reacting to Dez's pallid face and tired eyes with quarter-sized bags beneath them.

"Have you slept at all?" Trish asked.

"Well, aside from the nap you just woke me up from, no," Dez answered, yawning.

"Are you okay? Why haven't you slept?" Ally questioned, obviously concerned.

"Enough about me, I'm fine. The same doesn't go for Austin."

Ally and Trish adjusted their gaze to the right of the exhausted Dez, to see an extremely pale Austin fast asleep.

"At least this is better than he was on the beach," Ally said in an effort to life the somber mood that had begun swirling about the room. The sleeping form lay motionless except for the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. The thin sheet reached just below his chest, so his arms lay at his sides. In his left arm, an IV line led up to a bag filled with a scarlet red liquid. A thin oxygen tube stretched across his pallid face. On a side table near the IV drip, a heart monitor beeped a normal heart rate.

"It's not quite as bad as I thought," Ally thought to herself. They heard the door click as Mike and Mimi entered the room.

"How is he Dez, any changes?" Mimi asked, a concerned look in her eyes.

"Nope, still the same, sleeping Austin," Dez replied.

"How long have you guys been here?" Trish questioned.

"Dez has been here the whole time, he refused to leave Austin's side ever since he was let out of surgery at eight. Mimi and I left to grab dinner at around seven o'clock last night, and breakfast at seven thirty this morning," Mike explained.

"Did he ever wake up?" Trish asked.

"Nope, he never so much as fluttered an eyelid," Mike stated. Everyone looked toward the door as Dr. Brown came into the room.

"Anything new?" she asked, closing the door behind her.

"No," Mimi told her.

"At least that means he hasn't turned for the worse," Dr. Brown said, "We'll just cross our fingers and hope he will eventually regain some mobility."

"What do you mean?" Ally asked, a hint of panic in her voice.

Dr. Brown sighed, "Sit down everyone."

Everyone in the room found a chair, and Ally pulled hers up next to the bed. She took Austin's right hand and held it in hers, looking up at Dr. Brown and waiting for the imminent lecture.

"You see, this is just a pretty bad situation," Dr. Brown explained, "In many cases like this, the sheer amount of muscle damage greatly hinders movement of the ankle, if not completely preventing it."

A collective gasp emerged from the mouths of everyone in the room.

"Are you saying that he won't be able to move his ankle?" Ally asked nervously.

"Hopefully, he'll regain some mobility, but I'm afraid I have to say that he'll never be quite the same, his muscle is just too far gone."

"Is there anything we can do?" Mimi asked.

"We can of course do physical therapy later on, and repair hat muscle we have left. Of course, the most important thing right now is preventing infection."

"Um, what would happen if it were to become infected?" Ally questioned, afraid of the answer she would receive.

"Hopefully, we would catch it before it became too serious."

"And if you don't?"

"If it were to become too serious, we might have no other option but to amputate."

"Amputate!" Mimi yelled, startled.

"Please, calm down," Dr. Brown said in a futile attempt to calm the protective mother, "We are doing everything in our power to make sure that there will never be a strong infection. We are on a strict dressing-change schedule so that there is always a sterile barrier between the wound and the outside world. Besides, you're in a hospital, the cleanest place you could possibly be in. Speaking of which, it's time to change bandages now." She walked over to the cabinet on the far wall and pulled out a thick roll of bandages. She turned around and walked to the bedside.

"I suggest you all leave, this is not a pretty sight. It would be better for all of you if you didn't see this wound, again," she explained, glancing at Ally with the word, again. Ally placed Austin's hand back by his side, and proceeded to leave the room along with the others. As they neared the door, the monotonous beeps from the heart monitor began to speed up at an extremely alarming rate.

"This isn't good," Dr. Brown stated. She hurriedly placed the gauze back on the counter and picked up a walkie-talkie from her belt. "Dr. Valdez, we have a situation. Room 109, the wound reopened and we have an impending case of hypovolemic shock on our hands. Send Dr. Jones to the OR, tell him to be ready."

The walkie-talkie crackled in response, and Dr. Brown returned it to its place. Now, a visible patch of red could be seen around his left leg, and it was spreading outwards at a rate that almost seemed impossible. "How did this happen?! I should have noticed this earlier!" Dr. Brown scolded. "I need everyone to clear a path between the bed and the door, Dr. Valdez and his men will be here any second!"

The group rapidly parted, leaving the area behind the door empty. The door burst open, revealing Dr. Valdez and two other men all hurrying into the room. The men each took one side of the bed, and quickly began following Dr. Valdez down the hall. Dr. Brown grabbed the IV pole and followed them out, closing the door behind her.

Mimi wrapped her arms around Mike and buried her head in his shoulder, sobbing. Ally and Trish exchanged panicked glances, and Dez just sat in a chair, unmoving, and stared at the wall with a paralyzing gaze. Aside from Mimi's muffled cries, a somber silence filled the room.

**I think I changed my mind about the speed of updates, I'm just adding Chapter 5 today and will leave you all in suspense for a few days. How do you like that? It would kind of ruin the fun if you read the resolution to the cliffhanger right after, that defeats the point of a cliffhanger! Please don't hate me for this, I promise you will have answers.**

**If you have questions about anything, I'll be happy to answer them, just leave them in a review or PM me, I should respond relatively soon after. Until chapter 6, please read and review, I appreciate any and all reviews I receive.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Finally, here you are, chapter 6! I apologize if it seems like there is a huge gap here, but when I originally wrote this story, this is where I went with it directly after chapter 5. I promise, this is the only time I will ever jump around like this, the chapters in the 3 sequels are much more concise and consecutive, not to mention much longer. I hope you enjoy, there is only going to be one more chapter after this one, and then we move on to Disappearances & Dread! I hope you will follow this chain onto that story and read it as well!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin & Ally**

Chapter 6:

"The good news is, he recovered perfectly from the hypovolemic shock that you witnessed all those weeks ago, no amputation necessary. Also, he regained more mobility than you would expect from an injury like this," Dr. Brown explained to her small crowd of listeners.

"Does that mean that there's bad news too?" Trish asked skeptically.

"Actually, no. It's all good news today."

"Where is he?" Ally asked.

"He's still in the room, but he asked me when you were coming."

"But we just talked to him this morning and told him exactly when we were coming," Dez said.

"No, he asked me when Ally was coming," Dr. Brown replied.

"Oh," Dez responded, looking slightly offended.

"Has he officially been discharged?" Ally asked.

"Yes, he's just waiting for you to take him out of here."

"Let's go then," Trish said anxiously.

~0~

Austin stood next to his bed in the room, he looked exactly the same as he had before the accident, if not for the layer of bandages on his calf, invisible beneath his pant leg unless you were specifically looking for them. He walked – with a sever limp due to partial immobility of his left ankle – over to the bedside table, where the small golden box sat, unopened. He picked it up and gradually opened the pristine lid. In it, he found a small card saying, "There's no way I could make it without you"

"There's no way I could make it without you," Austin read with the beginning of a smile stretching across his face. He flipped the card over and silently read the note on the other side

Dear Austin,

As a token of your experience, I made this for you.

Get well soon, Ally.

P.S. – The doctors found this tooth embedded in your calf, they said it's in surprisingly good condition.

Austin reached into the box and pulled out a necklace with a perfectly-shaped shark tooth on it.

"Thanks Ally," he murmured to himself. He placed the necklace around his neck and looked to the door as it opened and Mike, Mimi, Dez, Trish, and Ally entered the room.

"Austin, you're okay!" Ally exclaimed, running over to embrace him in a hug, which he gratefully accepted. "I haven't seen you stand in forever," Ally said, releasing him from the hug. "I'm so sorry that I didn't visit you more often. It's just with my career taking off, I was really busy."

"It's fine, I was probably asleep for about half the time, there was really no point in you being there."

"I don't care, I feel horribly guilty not being with you at a time like this."

"Don't feel bad, I'm not offended. I know how busy you are."

"Well, that's great and all, but Austin, now you can officially consider yourself a shark attack survivor!" Dez exclaimed with his usual enthusiasm.

"Yep, if anyone asks, I can tell them that I was attacked by a bull shark!"

"Bull shark? How do you know which type of shark it was?" Trish asked.

"Well, the doctors showed by parents and me the X-rays and stuff, and they said that based on the shape of the bite, and a bunch of other sciency stuff that I couldn't understand, it had to have been a bull shark," Austin explained.

"Cool, that would make an awesome movie. A bull/shark hybrid that terrorizes the city," Dez said, causing Trish to roll her eyes.

"Sounds cool Dez, but right now, I just want to get out of here. I feel like I've been cooped up in here forever."

"Let's go," Mike told the gang. They all walked out the hospital room door, and out the main entrance.

~0~

Ally, Austin, Trish, and Dez walked into Sonic Boom, Dez continued past the counter and walked upstairs.

"It feels like forever since I've been here," Austin said, limping over to the sitting area near the entrance and taking a seat.

"Did you miss it?" Ally asked.

"A lot."

Dez returned down the stairs, almost smothered by the huge sakc that he was carrying.

"What the heck is in that sack?" Austin asked.

"Fan mail," Trish replied flatly, "The Austin Moon fan base heard about the accident. They've sent so many letters, the practice room is practically filled to the brim with them."

"This is just a little bit of them," Dez said, plopping the bag down next to Austin.

"I can't believe that the fans sent so many of them," Austin said, fingering through the letters toward the top of the sack before choosing some and beginning to read them.

"Ally insisted we organize them by country and state. This sack is just the ones from South Carolina," Trish explained, gently prodding the massive sack.

"I had no idea that people cared about me so much," Austin said, moving on to his next hadful of letters.

"The fan site is swarming with 'How's Austin?' and 'Has he come home yet?'. I told them that you were okay and coming home today," Trish explained. "Now I have a surprise!"

"What is it?" Austin asked, organizing the letters that he had already read into a neat stack on the seat next to him.

"I set up a Welcome Back Austin concert for you to make a big return to the stage?"

"That sounds awesome! Right Austin?" Ally asked.

"Yeah, it sounds great," Austin said enthusiastically.

"The only thing is, everyone's expecting you to write a new song reflecting your experience," Trish announced.

"I agree, a new song would be a perfect return to the stage," Ally commented.

"I'm fine with a new song, when is the concert?" Austin asked.

"It's in," Trish said as she counted the days off on her fingers, "two weeks."

"We can manage that, we've written a song in one night before."

"Let's get started right now while the store is closed," Ally suggested, walking over to the piano.

Austin rose from his seat and limped over to join her on the bench. The two started tossing around ideas **(1) **and playing little segments on the piano.

"I have a great dance move to go with that line," Austin said, rising from the bench and attempting to do one of his fancy dance bits. However, he failed to complete it due to the immobility of his ankle and fell to his knees. He used the counter to support his weight, and slowly rose to his feet.

"Are you alright?" Ally asked concernedly.

Austin simply shook his head forlornly, then limped up the stairs and into the practice room. "I'd better go talk to him," Ally said to a worried-looking Trish and Dez. Ally quickly hopped off the piano bench and climbed upstairs. She peeked her head into the practice room, finding him at the piano, depressing music filling the room. "Austin?"

He looked up at her briefly, then returned to his song.

"Are you okay, what happened?"

"I thought I had it, but when I was supposed to move my ankle to a certain degree, it wouldn't bend as far as I needed it to."

Ally walked over to the bench and sat down beside him.

"It was your first try at dancing in forever, you just need a little more practice."

"No, I don't need practice. I need my ankle back, no amount of practice can do that."

"You're being too hard on yourself."

"No, I'm not!" Austin exclaimed, slightly angered, "Look at me Ally, I can barely even walk straight, much less actually dance well. I'm just a cripple. I lay and sat around forever, just waiting and waiting for what? To not even be able to walk correctly, or do anything like I used to."

"Austin, I'm so sorry that this had to happen, if I could switch it over to me, I would in an instant."

"Well, you can't, so I'm stuck as a cripple," Austin said, dismayed.

"I need to tell you a story," Ally began, "Once there was a little girl, and the one thing she loved more than anything in the world was to play music and perform. But, one day, when she was much older, there was a horrible accident. After this incident, she couldn't even force herself to perform in front of people, it was simply impossible. Then, she met this person, and this person became one of her best friends. This person kept pushing her and pushing her to conquer her inability to perform. And, little by little, she became less and less incapable, until one day, she got up on a stage and performed life never before. She never could have done any of it without the help and support of her friend, Austin Moon."

Austin smiled at Aly, the story having completely erased any trace of anger or sadness.

"Does that story sound familiar?" Ally asked.

"Maybe a little, I seem to recall something like that happening."

"I conquered my stage fright Austin, you can conquer this, you just have to keep trying."

And that's exactly what he did. For the next two weeks, all he would do was practice. He'd work and work until he literally collapsed from exhaustion. Ally coached him through the whole thing, encouraging him when he became discouraged, and reminding him that he could do anything he set his mind to.

**Just so you know, this is approximately the length of most of the chapters in the sequels that are coming. Some will be a bit longer, and some a bit shorter, but this story is actually pretty short compared to what's on the way. My chapters in later stories might even be too long, but I'll leave that for you guys to decide when the time comes. Some people love long chapters, and others don't, I'll try to please as many people as I can, but no promises.**

**I absolutely could not write a song to save my life, so I will just leave all the song dialogue out. I hope you don't mind that, but just picture a song about a setback, and working to overcome it and eventually prevailing.**

**Again, if anyone has any questions, I'll be happy to answer them. Until later, please read and review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**This is the last chapter of Sharks & Shocks, I hope you will all decide to continue on and read Disappearances & Dread, and both sequels after that. I promise, it only gets better from here.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin & Ally**

Chapter 7:

Austin, Ally, Trish, and Dez stood backstage at a concert hall.

"Are you ready for this?" Ally asked. Austin responded by perfectly showing off one of his trademark dances.

"Yeah, I think I'm ready," he answered.

"It's a good thing that you two actually found time to write a song with all the dance practice," Trish said.

"Yeah, that was a good thing," Ally said, "Ready to hit the stage Austin?"

Austin carefully felt for the shark tooth necklace around his neck, then nodded in response. Ally and Austin ran onto the stage, the crowd chanting their names.

"Hello everybody!" Austin shouted, causing a new chorus of cheers to erupt among the audience. "As you all know, I was recently attacked by a shark, and this is my first time on stage since then. It's a great honor to be here with my partner and close friend, Ally Dawson. Without her, I probably wouldn't be here in front of you all right tonight," Austin said, causing Ally to blush. "Let's get going!"

Austin and Ally sang their newest song perfectly, dance moves included, the crowd cheering along the entire time **(1) **After the song ended, they left the stage, the fans still screaming the house down.

"How did you know it was me who dragged you out of the water?" Ally asked, "You blacked out just as I got to you."

"Well, Dez told me exactly what happened, how you didn't hesitate to dive into the water with a blood-thirsty shark around just to save me."

"I couldn't have just left you to die, could I?" Ally questioned.

"No, you couldn't have. Thanks for saving my life."

"Oh, it was nothing," Ally joked.

"You were great out on that stage."

"You too."

"I couldn't have done it without my lucky shark tooth," Austin said, holding his necklace up.

"You wore it?"

"I haven't taken it off since I found it. I think I actually cut myself on it a few times."

"You know, they found that tooth embedded in your calf."

"So I read, that's a bit disgusting, but it's also what makes it special."

"How did it feel out there?"

"Actually, it really hurt," Austin said, massaging his left calf.

"We probably should have given it a bit more time. But I meant, how did it feel to perform just like nothing had happened?"

"Well, it's not exactly like that. I had to make some major technique adjustments, but other than that it felt amazing. I never thought I would be able to do it. I owe it all to you."

"Stop it."

"I'm not kidding, I would have died if you hadn't chosen to save me."

"I would have died too Austin, I would have died too," Ally said, pulling him into a hug that ended up lasting for five minutes or more. Neither of them wanted to let go in that moment, a representation of just how much they cared about each other, and just how much they would be willing to sacrifice for each other. Nothing in the world, no natural or man-made force, could ever sever the bond between two friends as close and caring as Austin and Ally, as has been proven through previous experiences and as the idea is reinforced through many more perilous adventures to come.

**(1) As I said earlier, I can not write songs at all, so I just left the song dialogue out.**

**I hope this finale was everything you expected it to be, I tried not to make it a romance story, as I've never truly been interested in that kind of thing Everything they do for each other is really a result of a strong friendship, not anything more than that. There are three more stories to come after this, each is dramatically different form the next. I highly recommend reading Disappearances & Dread, and it is quite a bit longer than this and has just as much action. I want to thank everyone who has reviewed this story up to this point, but I have just a few special shout-outs:**

**LauraRaurano – my first reviewer ever**

** . - my most frequent reviewer**


End file.
